Archives for May 2017

Me and hot weather, they just don’t mix. I may be in the minority here but I’ll take a good snow storm over a heat wave any day. At least with the cold you can get warm but when it’s hot, you just can’t cool down! Well, unless you have a refreshing cocktail to ease the pain a bit. Last week it was in the 90’s…and it’s mid-May!! I mean, I can’t. I just can’t. All day long I was dreaming of a watermelon cocktail so as soon as the kid’s were off the bus I dragged them to the grocery store for one thing and one thing only — a giant watermelon. This drink is refreshing, hydrating and quite simply, happiness in a glass. Do yourself a favor and put this on your Memorial Day weekend menu – you won’t be sorry!

Weekly meal prep is going down! I normally wait to do this on Mondays when my family does a mass exodus to school and work but I had an hour today while one was at a birthday party and the other was preoccupied. I usually plan specific dinners for each night of the week but lately prepping individual ingredients to grab and go seems to be working much better. Spring is crazy and we all are moving in different directions each day with late sports practices and longer, lighter days and weather often dictates dinner plans – Last minute beach dinner? Sure! Tacos al fresco? Yesiree! This way of meal prepping gives me just a little more wiggle room while still keeping me on track.

One thing I always make each week no matter what, though, is salad dressing. Throw a few ingredients in a blender and POOF! Done in minutes, literally. This dressing I found in the new Cookie + Kate cookbook so with a few adjustments here and there – a new favorite was born! Don’t be scared by the jalapeno in this recipe – my kids even ate this dressing on a salad and didn’t bat an eye.

Jalapeno-Lime Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup lime juice (from about 4 limes)

1 small jalapeno, seeded, deribbed, and roughly chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients (except red pepper flakes) in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more mustard, salt or heat to your liking.

This has been on my list of things to make for about oh, I don’t know…forever! Nut milk is so easy, in theory, but so is driving to the store and buying a carton of it already made. Recently, however, I read that if you have a high-powered blender you actually don’t need to strain cashew milk (unlike almond milk) after blending it which helps it retain its fiber and nutrients and waste less. Yup, that pretty much sealed the deal with one less messy step. This turns out super creamy and is a home run in your smoothie and takes nearly no ingredients. Go make this!

Creamy Cashew Milk

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews

4 cups water, divided

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

couple pinches of sea salt

dash of cinnamon

optional: 1-2 tablespoons of honey or pure maple syrup

Instructions:

Soak the cashews in water for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Drain the cashews and rinse well. Add cashews and two cups of water to a blender. Blend until totally pulverized. This took about 2 minutes in my high-speed blender but could take longer in a regular blender.

Blend in 2 more cups of water, vanilla extract, sea salt, cinnamon and any sweetener if you are using it. Store the milk in a covered container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

I love you so much that I just ate three of these to make sure they were postable (is that even a word?) and worth the write up. I always see recipes for bites and balls that have oats in them and I really wanted to try and find something that didn’t have any grains but still held together well and tasted GOOD. I think I’ve found it. These are grain-free, gluten-free and dairy-free so whether you are vegan, paleo or just like eating clean, these will fit the bill. All you need is a food processor and a few whole ingredients and you are good to go! Loaded with dates, walnuts, cacao, almond and coconut butter and hemp seeds, these little guys pack in a nutritional punch. You’ve got protein, omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, iron, magnesium, zinc…need I go on? Oh, and they have that truffle-like texture. Yup, pure awesome in a bite, or two, or three…

Store in a well-sealed container in the freezer for up to a month. I guarantee they won’t last that long though. You can also keep them in the fridge but straight from the freezer is the tastiest in my opinion.

Pesto….I love it, my kids love it, there’s no baking or chopping involved. What’s NOT to love?! I’ve been on an arugula walnut pesto tear lately and decided to change it up today and went with kale and almond. That’s another awesome thing about pesto, you can get creative! This new one was equally delicious and eagerly taken down by the kids on almond flour tortillas and mixed in with red lentil pasta. Even my non veggie eater thinks this stuff is the bomb and has already asked to have it for lunch today since he’s home sick. As I type this he is running circles through the downstairs rooms…it’s going to be a long day.

Kale & Almond Pesto

Ingredients:

1 bunch of basil

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of soaked almonds, drained

1/2 bunch of kale, washed and destemmed

Sea salt

Instructions:

Throw all of the ingredients together in a food processor and blend, keeping the mixture slightly chunky. Taste. Depending on how you like it you may want to add more salt, lemon juice, basil or garlic. You can’t mess it up!

Every Sunday or Monday, depending on what day I’m meal prepping, I make one dressing to use throughout the week as a dip, dressing, sauce or marinade. Thick, thin, green, white, yellow, vinegary, sweet, smokey, spicy – it’s always something different to keep it interesting.

Today, while rummaging through the fridge to find something to eat for lunch, I found some leftover roast chicken as well as some grilled veggies from the night before. They needed something to tie them all together so this sauce was born. I think this is particularly awesome on roasted veggies like cauliflower or sweet potatoes but really, this would be tasty on anything. I also love the protein boost this gets from the plain yogurt. I wonder if the kids would dip veggies in this…

Lemon Curry Yogurt Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I like the consistency of Greek yogurt better but any plain yogurt will do)

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

Sea salt, to taste

2 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste as some powders are stronger than others

Instructions:

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients till smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.